Tuesday, January 24, 2012

cozy crochet.

My farmer boy is a bit obsessed with cozies.

While we were away on our caravan adventure, everything had it's own cozy. There was the spare wheel cozy, the esky cozy, the IMac had a cozy made out of my childhood sleeping bag and there were various other cozies and plans for cozies along the way.

After we got home and we became a TV only on the weekends family, he ordered a cozy for that too. Why should a big black ugly box take pride of place in the lounge room when it serves no purpose for five days out of every seven?

So I set to work making a big, colourful pile of granny squares.

I sewed in the ends and sewed them together.
I wondered when it comes down to it, which part actually takes longer: the crocheting or the darning?

And then I pinned the finished granny blanket onto a grey blanket from the stash.

Thanks Kate. I think it worked for us because we had a six month break and then put the rule in place.It would definitely have been scary before.Perhaps you could work it in gradually. Limit the time, or limit the days. You could always make the new changes to coincide with going back to school. xx

Love the cozies Kate! We have not had a TV or a DVD for about 3 years. This was firstly due to dismantling our TV set up for a renovation and then post-renovation we just decided we could do with out it. I don't miss it at all but we couldn't survive without the internet :)

The cozy looks great, but our TV is rather big. We dont watch it much anymore either, all these channels and nothing much on! I prefer to listen to ABC radio, much more interesting. My youngest daughter, her hubby and son moved to 21 acres over a year ago and they haven't even unpacked the TV. Credit to her because she is only 24, she leads a very busy life and definitely no time for watching telly...

Fun idea! Your grannies are very similar to my "never ending" gypsy blanket project... 3 row grannies are such a joy to make but at the moment I have put it aside as I am a bit tired of it. This project has been in a WiP for over a year because of crochet arm troubles on and off... Seeing your TV cozy inspires me to push through and pick it up again. Finish it so that it will bring colorful joy to our living room. Like the idea of TV only on weekends... I am not sure anyone else will approve with the idea in my household. Maybe I can get them to do a 1 week trial, or a monthly trial. From time to time I've cut down TV time, especially in the evenings. It makes bed time procedure so much easier actually. Kids are settled more quickly, not wired up and all crazy. Actually thinking about it we are doing pretty good though... I should pat myself on my shoulder as we only do about 1 hour of TV a day on the week days. That is not too bad... Have a lovely week. I am enjoying your blog very much. ♥♥♥

I'm with you! When we moved house in October we hid the telly behind an armchair so it's not the focal point of the living room. Our evenings revolve around Auden's dinner, bath and bedtime, so we're not really watching much telly at all, other than the occasional program on iView (which means you actually choose what you watch, rather than slumping in front of whatever's on). The only downside is that I get less knitting done, because I'm more inclined to knit in front of the telly than when I'm reading. Still, it feels like I've got my life back.

Oh I really admire you too. Wish we could get rid of the telly, but hubby will think Ive asked him to cut off his arm.We have been reduced to a little old (non digital) tv so its almost not worth watching...lol.I LOVE crochet too.. it is the most relaxing of ALL the crafts I do.LOVE your granny squares and yep, the darning takes soooo long and is not nearly as fun as the crochet part!

Hey Kate..........TV on weekends only is a great idea. Families could rediscover soooo many wonderful things and each other!!

More time for what's really important.... could I do it?

Not sure as I don't have young children it's not such an issue in this household.I listen to the radio in the mornings and then turn the TV on just before the news.If I am watching it in the evenings I usually have a crochet hook in one hand, so something is getting done at the same time.A couple of sayings I heard years ago ......"One of life's greatest paradoxes....the more TV stations there are, the less there is to watch" so true and Groucho Marx said "I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book".

All the best with it and the cozy is very colourful, beats the test pattern, any day...

it's gorgeous! my mum backed an old crocheted blanket (with a nice deep bias tape edge on it) that her grandmother had made to make it last a bit longer. i think it's a great way to make a granny square blanket more snug...maybe a vintage blanket on the back for winter time??

we have a TV but no reception. we never miss it and if we do miss anything, we watch it online.

Hi Kate, Honestly not sure my sanity would remain in tack if we reduced tv to the weekends. When the tv is on that's when I can check out blogs and pinterest in peace! Have been making a hip cosy! - will post photos next couple of days of it.

When i find the tv creeping back into our lives, i usually throw a blanket over it. . . and sometimes it's a crochet blanket! Enough to make us stop and think before switching it on. I think I could easily live without it, especially with so much good stuff on the internet. Other family members are a bit more attached to it though.

Hi Kate, I made my husband a cosy for his guitar amplifier recently, on request. He was delighted with it! I have teenagers and tv is definitely on too much. I spent their younger years rationing it, doing crafts and games, reading. I still try but it isn't easy. I can only hope that when they come out the other side they will still have some of the values that we practised when they were still impressionable. I believe they will. X

Who would have thought of it? Such a great idea and slightly reminds me of the old ABC night picture. I have lived for long periods of my life and my children's lives without TV. I also highly recommend it. Cherrie

Yes my name is Anny and I am a crochet addict!! I learnt to crochet when I was younger but it wasn't until about a year ago that I have been reintroduced to it and yes I am obsessed. My addiction is blankets and unfortunately living in Brisbane there is only a limited you can use what you create. :)

i love it! i'm a seamstress and no crocheter for sure but a tv cozie must be made methinks. We too are not big TV folk. I havent been for years...life is just too beautifully full to watch the stuff. If i end up at the wrong dinner party i can get a bit lost in the conversation as a result though- not knowing the latest scandals in tvland! My wee man is four and doesn't know about it yet. off to look at the fabric stash for tv cozie sized pieces...vintage fabric patchwork? hmmmm

Hurrah for TV at the weekends only! We kept our television on a trolley in a living room cupboard when the kids were younger, and it often didn't get wheeled out even at times when watching was allowed, you'll probably find the longer you all go without it the less dependent on it you become. Now we have the flatscreen built into the high shelf of a bookcase that has an armchair in front of it. With pretty things on the shelves around it you almost don't notice that it's there. It doesn't need a cosy but I almost wish it did ... yours is lovely Kate :D

That is an absolute cracker. I think the ABC should incorporate a digital version into their overnight screen test pattern. We however could not cope without a dose of abc kids every day, you are a legend getting it down to weekends only. melx

First of all I really must learn to crochet because I love love love your yummy makes!Secondly, I often throw one of the quilts I've made over our television to make it a little less of an eye sore and take the focus of the room off it! :) This is awesome! :) Loving your blog! x

I think I'd like a cozy for my washing machine. I think we should become a washing-only-on-the-weekends family. I would have scads more time---we already ditched the tv during the week---and there would be a bright spot of color in my otherwise gray laundry room. Ho many grannies d'you think I'll need? xo

That's brilliant! I love the grannies as a blanket...but as a TV cosy.. what a great idea! The huge TVs these days dominate the room don't they... and they are a big splat of black wherever they are! :)x

Ahh, noice!!!!!!! Love the idea and with all the bad tv on at the moment, our tv is off way more than it is on. Although I do tend to use ABC2 nowadays, it kinda helps Bubba.... I mean, there is only so much singing of nursery rhymes that I can do myself!!

Hi Kate :o) I loved your list of reasons that your lives are better for not watching tv every day, especially "Our best friends are people not characters" This is the very reason we don't use tv with our young kids. The obsessive character crazes and the merchanidise machine gives me the shudders. I'm so pleased that our kids can hold intelligent conversations without constant references to characters, like so many other children we know. GREAT idea for the tv cosy too. K.

Your tv cozy is fantastic. We have been tv free for about 8 years now and i don't miss it at all. We still have a 42 inch tv but it is only connected to the DVD player, no cables to anything else - the best of both worlds movies only when we want them and no ads.

That is a good rule! I personally don't watch the tele except when Billy tells me to 'look at this' I sit at the kitchen table blogging and knitting/crocheting and he flicks channels. The boys are limited to TV after they have had afternoon tea, done homework and played outside and it goes off at 6:30 sharp. It is watched a bit more on Sunday afternoon but it is the wet season so I figured you can only play on the porch for so long ;-) Love the cozie for it! If it were just me in the house the tv would be in one of those cabinets with a door....

I love this. Do you take orders? My tv is only 19 inches, but I really want to cover it, so I'll watch. If you're interested, please let me know - your post is one of the few google results for tv cozy. Thanks!

An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a friend who has been conducting a little homework on this.And he in fact ordered me lunch because I stumbled upon it for him... lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending the time to discuss this matter here on your web page.

Hi there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren't loading properly. I'm not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I've tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.

Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.